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A READING GUIDE TO
Tuck
Everlasting
by Natalie Babbitt
Hannah Mitchell
Copyright © 2004 by Scholastic Inc.
Interview © 2004 by Natalie Babbitt
Flapjack recipe © 2004 by Kristin James
813′.54—dc21 2003050391
0-439-53821-1
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 04 05 06 07 08
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at Laurel School in Cleveland. After high school, she went on to
study art at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
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Natalie Babbitt’s subsequent books have consistently achieved a
place on the major lists of outstanding children’s literature in the
years of their publication. The Devil’s Storybook was nominated
for a National Book Award in 1975, named an American Library
Association (ALA) Notable Book, and received the Christopher
and Lewis Carroll Shelf awards. Kneeknock Rise was a Newbery
Honor Book in 1971; Goody Hall was chosen as an Honor Book
in the 1971 Book World Children’s Spring Book Festival; and two
of Babbitt’s books have been selected for inclusion in the
Children’s Book Council’s Children’s Book Showcase: Goody Hall
in 1972 and More Small Poems, illustrated by Babbitt and written
by poet Valerie Worth, in 1977. In 1981, Babbitt was the U.S.
nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, an award
presented by the International Board on Books for Young People
in recognition of someone “whose complete works have made a
lasting contribution to children’s literature.” (This award is “the
highest international recognition given to an author and an
illustrator of children’s books.”) All of these books, including The
Eyes of the Amaryllis, were also ALA Notable Children’s Books.
Natalie Babbitt is perhaps best known for her magical book, Tuck
Everlasting. Babbitt has brought books to life for children just as
she had always hoped she would. She has created worlds that
mesh fantasy and reality. She allows readers to go to places that
might not be real exactly, but are certainly true to life.
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How Tuck Everlasting Came About
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happily ever after. But, what would [living forever] really be like
in the real world.”
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An Interview with Natalie Babbitt
You have said that you are always surprised when people find
this story unusual. You think eternal life is quite an ordinary
dilemma to think about. Why then do you think the issue is so
compelling to both children and adults?
You have noted that some readers have not been satisfied with the
ending. Why do you think some readers aren’t satisfied with
Winnie’s choice?
It is mainly girls who feel that way. They have been quite
charmed by Jesse and they think she should marry him. I always
have a good laugh about that because he is charming but I think
he’d make a terrible husband!
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But most of them do change their minds about it later on. In fact,
a young girl wrote to tell me that she was so very disappointed
with the ending and I wrote back to her to say that that was
okay—there is no right or wrong way to feel. Seven years later,
the same girl wrote to me and said that she had changed her
mind, and that she realized the book had ended the way it was
supposed to. I always tell kids about that because that’s
beautiful.
Winnie does what I would have done. There are plenty of people
who wouldn’t have done it, though. Particularly if there was
someone to share eternity with. I think it would be very boring,
and even with the right person I think it would be lonely. The fact
that we don’t have a lot of time puts a lot of delicious pressure on
us to do things. But there’s no law that says that’s the way you
have to feel about it.
The book has an anyplace, anytime feel to it. Do you think the
setting is important to the story?
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thought that was pretty interesting and that’s what Winnie’s
grandmother says. So I had that in mind, also. But Tuck’s house
and pond are based on a real place that we owned years ago. It
doesn’t really matter, though. The book could be set anywhere
that isn’t desert or mountain. The wood is the important part.
Some people have said that you essentially “turn religion on its
head” in this novel. Did religion come into play for you? Are you
surprised that some people read it that way?
Does the imagery you use in your writing come from being an
artist? For example, in Tuck Everlasting you describe August as
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having “blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets
smeared with too much color.”
You have said that you use metaphors and similes because they
help readers understand things that they otherwise might not. But
what about personification? It seems to come into play a lot in this
book. For example, grass is “forlorn,” the house is “proud of itself,”
and the cows are “wise.” Where does that come from for you?
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You have been criticized for being too descriptive. How do you feel
about that?
Well, perhaps some of the books are wordier than they need to
be. That’s hard for some people.
I’ve never been in much of a hurry. The writer’s block comes for
me when I can’t work out a plot. The rest of it, the writing, I
really enjoy and I find that relatively easy. We all use words all
the time, so it’s a universal thing for us. But I get hung up on
plots—plotting is hard for me.
I’ve got about two more ideas and that will be it.
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busy. He is more of a people person and he just couldn’t be alone
as much as you have to. No one ever said to me in a writing class
that being alone is a part of it [being a writer], but it certainly is.
You have to like to be by yourself.
It might sound silly but I [wrote a novel] before I knew how hard
it was to do. After that, it became more difficult and it continues
to become more difficult because you’re more conscious of what
you’re doing and that makes it hard. Writing is extremely hard
work.
Does the acclaim that you’ve received put pressure on you when
you sit down to write a new book?
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What happened to the idea of being an artist?
Did you always know that you wanted to do books for children?
When did you start to think about what you would be when you
grew up?
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Chapter Charter:
Questions to Guide Your Reading
Prologue
• How does the author describe the setting in this section?
• Why do you think she chooses to be so mysterious in the
prologue?
Chapter 1
• How does the author’s use of language help you to understand
the setting?
• Why aren’t the Fosters curious about the wood? If you were
Winnie, do you think you might have wanted to explore the
wood? Why or why not?
Chapter 2
• Why does Angus Tuck consider his dream about heaven a
“good dream”?
• Why do you think Mae Tuck doesn’t care about her appearance
anymore?
Chapter 3
• What do you think Winnie’s life is like? How does it compare to
your life?
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• Why does Winnie throw stones at the toad? What emotion do
you think she is feeling?
• Why does Winnie tell the toad she wants to run away?
Chapter 4
• What is your first impression of the man in the yellow suit?
Does the author give you any clues about his character?
• Where do you think the music that Winnie’s grandmother
hears comes from?
Chapter 5
• What do you think Jesse is thinking when he tries to prevent
Winnie from drinking the spring water?
• What does Mae mean when she says, “The worst is happening
at last”?
Chapter 6
• Why do the Tucks kidnap Winnie? What do you think you
would have done in Winnie’s place?
• Why does Winnie feel reassured when she hears the music
box?
Chapter 7
• How had the Tucks figured out they were going to live forever?
• Why do you think the man in the yellow suit is following
Winnie and the Tucks?
Chapter 8
• Why does Winnie begin to feel happy about being with the
Tucks?
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• The man in the yellow suit overhears the Tucks’ story. What do
you think he might be planning?
Chapter 9
• It takes many hours for Winnie, Mae, Jesse, and Miles to reach
the Tucks’ home. Why do you think they live in such a hard-to-
reach place?
• Why do you think Angus Tuck is so happy to meet Winnie?
Chapter 10
• Do you think Mae thinks of her life as blessed or cursed? Why?
• Why is Winnie so amazed at the inside of the Tucks’ home?
Chapter 11
• Why does Winnie suddenly want to go home?
Chapter 12
• Why does Angus Tuck take Winnie to the pond to talk to her?
• How is the movement of the pond water meaningful to their
conversation about the life cycle?
Chapter 13
• Why do you think the man in the yellow suit goes to the
Fosters instead of to the police?
Chapter 14
• Why does Winnie go back and forth, first liking the disorder of
the Tucks’ lifestyle, then longing for her regular bedtime
routine?
• How do the Tucks make Winnie feel better?
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• As Winnie tries to fall asleep, she can’t decide whether or not to
believe the Tucks’ story. Would you have believed it? Why or
why not?
Chapter 15
• Why do you think the man in the yellow suit wants to trade his
knowledge of Winnie’s whereabouts for the Fosters’ wood?
• What do the man in the yellow suit’s actions tell you about his
character?
Chapter 16
• Why is the constable surprised that the Fosters agree to sell
the wood?
• Is the constable suspicious of the man in the yellow suit’s
motives?
Chapter 17
• How does swatting a mosquito make Winnie realize that dying
is a natural part of the life cycle?
• Why does Winnie insist that Miles throw the fish back?
Chapter 18
• Why do you think Miles conceals the reason that he and
Winnie return without any fish?
• How have Winnie’s feelings for the Tucks changed? Do you
think she has stronger feelings for some of the Tucks than
others?
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Chapter 19
• Why does the man in the yellow suit see the Tucks as selfish?
• Mae Tuck hits the man over the head with the gun. Do you
think she does the right thing? Does she have another option?
Chapter 20
• Why does Winnie lie to the constable?
• Angus Tuck stares at the man in the yellow suit after Mae hits
him. What do you think he is thinking about? Why does
Winnie seem horrified at Angus Tuck’s reaction?
Chapter 21
• Do you think the Fosters regret selling the wood?
• What makes Winnie’s family think she has changed?
Chapter 22
• Why does Winnie volunteer to help rescue Mae?
• Do you think Jesse should have given Winnie the spring water?
Why or why not?
Chapter 23
• Why does being disheveled make Winnie’s mother and
grandmother more interesting?
• Why does Winnie feel so good and right about what she is
about to do?
Chapter 24
• How do you think Winnie feels helping Mae escape?
• Do you think Winnie does the right thing in freeing Mae? Why?
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Chapter 25
• How does Winnie’s reputation in the village change after she
helps Mae?
• Why do you think Winnie saves the toad from the dog?
• What important decision does Winnie make when she pours
the spring water on the toad?
Epilogue
• How does the author connect Winnie and the Tucks at the end
of the story?
• Why does Angus Tuck say, “Good girl,” when he sees Winnie’s
grave?
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Plot: What’s Happening?
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interrupted, though, by the faint sound of music, which she first
heard many years ago and which she describes as “elf music.”
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Even though she is not sure whether or not to believe them,
Winnie agrees to go home with them until they figure out what to
do. Unbeknownst to the whole group, the man in the yellow suit
has heard the whole story. When they arrive at the Tucks’ house,
Winnie meets Mae’s husband, Angus Tuck.
Winnie becomes fond of the Tucks as they set out to teach her
why it is so important that no one find out about the spring.
Each one tries to show her that eternal life is a terrible burden.
In the meantime, the man in the yellow suit shows up at the
Fosters’ door with a deal in mind. He will get Winnie back in
exchange for ownership of their wood. Desperate to get Winnie
back, her parents agree.
When the man in the yellow suit tells the constable about the
deal he’s struck with the Fosters, the constable is a little
suspicious, but he follows the man to the Tucks, anyway. The
man in the yellow suit arrives before the constable, however, and
confronts the Tucks with his knowledge. He tells them that his
plan is to let the whole world know of this fountain of youth, but
that he will only sell the water to people “worthy” of it. He even
suggests using the Tucks as examples of the water’s effects. The
Tucks are outraged at the prospect of being treated like “freaks.”
The man in the yellow suit takes hold of Winnie and threatens
to make her drink the spring water if they refuse to cooperate
with him. Mae Tuck grabs Angus’s gun and hits the man in the
yellow suit over the head with it. The man falls to the ground
unconscious.
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The constable arrives just in time to see what Mae has done. The
Tucks and Winnie try to explain that Mae struck him because he
had threatened to take Winnie from them. The constable takes
Mae into custody and explains that if the man dies, she will go to
the gallows (a structure from which criminals are executed by
hanging). At that moment, they realize what will happen if Mae is
sent to the gallows. When she doesn’t die, the whole world will
understand that she can’t die and the secret will be out.
The constable returns Winnie to her family. Later she learns that
the man in the yellow suit has died. Winnie decides that she
must help; she cannot let Mae go to the gallows. The next day
Jesse tells her about their plan to help Mae escape at midnight.
Jesse also gives Winnie a little bottle of the spring water. He tells
her to think about drinking it when she turns seventeen so that
they can get married and be together forever.
Winnie waits through the night in the cell, hiding under the
cot blanket until the constable discovers her in the morning.
Although everyone is upset with her, she feels proud of what she
has done. She has rescued the Tucks and helped save the world
from the dangers and disappointments of eternal life.
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In the final chapter, Winnie finds that some people look at her
differently now. Because she got into trouble, people are more
interested in her.
The book ends with an epilogue in which the Tucks pull into
Treegap many years in the future. They learn that the wood has
long since been bulldozed and that Winifred Foster has died two
years before. They feel sad for Jesse, but they are satisfied that
Winnie had decided to live her life as it should be lived, with an
end in sight.
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Setting/Place and Time:
Where in the World Are We?
Place
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chapter the author starts to establish the setting by describing
the road that leads to Treegap: “But on reaching the shadows
of the first trees, it veered sharply, swung out in a wide arc as
if, for the first time, it had reason to think where it was going,
and passed around [the wood].” Babbitt traces the road as it
wanders along curves, comes to a small hill, and ambles down
to a meadow, coming at last to a wood. She wants her reader to
know from the start that the town, the wood, and the road are
all mentioned on purpose. She wants the reader to sense that
somehow the road knew to veer sharply away from the wood
and lead elsewhere instead.
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In stark contrast to the Fosters’ house, the Tucks’ house in the
wood is described as being in a state of disarray. Babbitt uses
their house to represent disorder. Just as the Fosters’ house is
neat and uninviting, the Tucks’ house is terribly messy but warm
—just like its inhabitants. The Tucks’ house paints a picture of
who they are. Warm and welcoming, it is a house filled with the
clutter that has accumulated over too much time.
Babbitt makes it clear from the start that “the village itself
doesn’t matter, except for the jailhouse and the gallows.” She lets
the reader know that only that first house is important, “the first
house, the road, and the wood.”
Time
The author gives us some clues about the time period of this
novel. Through details like Winnie’s high-button shoes and the
fact that the characters ride on horseback and in wagons rather
than in cars, we know that the story probably takes place in the
1800s. At the very end, we learn the exact year the story takes
place when the Tucks come upon Winnie’s gravestone. It gives
the years of her birth and death: 1870–1948. From this we know
that the year she meets the Tucks is 1881 (because she is almost
eleven), and that it is 1950 when the Tucks return to Treegap.
The epilogue also reveals how the area has changed with the
passage of time. The Tucks are still traveling on horseback. When
they pull into Treegap, they are laughed at by a man at a gas
station. Babbitt introduces a gas station and a man in “greasy
coveralls” to show how things have changed even though the
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Tucks have remained exactly the same. The introduction of this
new time period reminds us that though the rest of the world,
even Treegap, has evolved, the Tucks have not. They cannot.
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Themes/Layers of Meaning:
Is That What It Really Means?
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“Maybe it’s because they think they have forever to clean it up.”
The author uses the disorder to show that Winnie is being
exposed to a different way of living for the first time. She lets
Winnie follow her thought a little further when Winnie thinks to
herself, “Maybe they just don’t care!” In fact, later when there are
no napkins for her to use to wipe her hands properly, Winnie
realizes that in this house it is quite all right to lick the maple
syrup off your fingers. “Winnie was never allowed to do such a
thing at home, but she had always thought it would be the
easiest way. And suddenly the meal seemed luxurious.”
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becomes more interesting. At the beginning, the children in her
town think of her merely as an extension of her tailored home. In
the end, some of the townspeople find her an intriguing hero. She
has come to life for them: “She was a figure of romance to them
now, where before she had been too neat, too prissy; almost,
somehow, too clean to be a real friend.”
Winnie begins to comprehend this herself when she sees how the
water moves out of the pond and into the ocean. She realizes that
the pond water is like life and that while the water moves all
around them, she and Angus are stuck in the rowboat. Tuck
continues, “That’s what us Tucks are, Winnie. Stuck so’s we can’t
move on. We ain’t part of the wheel no more. Dropped off, Winnie.
Left behind. And everywhere around us, things is moving and
growing and changing.” And when Winnie, whose mind was
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suddenly “drowned with understanding of what he was saying,”
blurts out that she doesn’t want to die, Tuck reassures her. “Not
now. Your time’s not now. But dying’s part of the wheel, right
there next to being born.”
Tuck uses the image of the wheel to make Winnie understand the
importance of the cycle of life, just as Babbitt uses the imagery of
the wheel again and again to show the reader how the wheel
works, how it moves things along as they should be moved.
Independence
When Winnie steps toward the wood, noting that she will make
a final decision about whether or not to run away permanently
once she gets there, she is actually taking her first steps toward
independence. She gets braver and more independent with each
step she takes. Although she has no choice in the matter when
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she is kidnapped by the Tucks, she goes with them somewhat
willingly, trusting her own instincts about their goodness.
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Greed
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finally we had to leave the farm.” Even though it means living a
lonely, difficult life, the Tucks know that they must never reveal
their secret.
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Characters: Who Are
These People, Anyway?
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names very often anymore—although once I was approached by a
woman who told me her name was Winifred Foster!”
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Winnie is somewhat torn, though. When she sets out into the
wood that next day, she is unsure of what to do. She won’t
commit to running away but thinks she’ll see how she feels as
she goes. It turns out she doesn’t have to make a decision
herself. Her life changes the moment she encounters Jesse Tuck
in the wood.
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deeply for the Tucks, and is pained when she notices sadness
in them.
But it is Winnie’s courage that changes her life. She has lived
through something and learned from the experience, and she
feels surer of herself for it. At the beginning, she doesn’t even
know whether or not to run away. In the end, she starts making
independent decisions. When she sneaks out of the house and
risks everything to save Mae, she not only displays her newfound
independence, but also shows she has learned how to be a
friend.
Mae Tuck: Mae Tuck is a wife and mother who cares deeply
about her family. She tries very hard to keep her family intact.
Mae is also very brave. It is she who saves her family and Winnie
when she hits the man in the yellow suit over the head. She is a
protector. Mae will stop at nothing to prevent others from taking
on the burden of eternal life. She is kind, loving, optimistic, and
resilient—she has led a long and sometimes difficult life, but still
has energy to spare. All of those qualities are evident when she
says to Winnie, “Life’s got to be lived, no matter how long or
short. You got to take what comes.”
Angus Tuck: Angus Tuck, called Tuck, is a kind but sad man,
who “almost never smiled except in his sleep.” For that is when
he dreams of heaven and is relieved to be able to forget for a
minute that he will live forever. But the “melancholy creases of
his cheeks” are displaced by a smile when he meets Winnie
Foster. Perhaps most affected of all the Tucks by the curse of
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eternal life, Tuck hides himself away from the world so that he
doesn’t have to watch it grow past him. Because he cannot die,
he doesn’t feel alive. He responds with sheer amazement to
Winnie when he meets her. Winnie is alive to him because she
will mature and grow old, and eventually die. It makes him feel
alive to be near her.
Natalie Babbitt has said that Angus Tuck is the most important
character in the book. “He is the one whose advice Winnie
follows.”
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world, and of Jesse’s indulgent lifestyle. He thinks everyone
ought to make himself or herself useful.
The man in the yellow suit: The man in the yellow suit
represents the dark side of the Tucks’ situation. He wants to
exploit them by treating them like a sideshow. He has no morals.
He doesn’t see the Tucks as people, but as objects put on earth
to make him rich. He refuses to see the consequences of his plan.
Natalie Babbitt has explained:
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Thinking about the characters
• Which of the Tucks do you feel closest to? Why?
• Would you like to have Winnie for a friend? Why or why not?
• Do you feel differently about Mae Tuck after she kills the man
in the yellow suit? Why or why not?
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Opinion: What Have Other
People Thought About
Tuck Everlasting?
“Flawless”
Some people who have read the book feel that despite its
historical setting, children many years in the future will also
enjoy Tuck Everlasting. A review from Booklist stated that “with
its serious intentions, and light touch the story is, like the
Tucks, timeless.”
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Controversy about the ending
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Glossary
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gallows a frame from which condemned people were hanged
gypsies wandering people
illiterate unable to read or write
indomitable impossible to tame or subdue
jaunty showy
kingfisher a brightly colored bird
marionette a wooden figure made to move from above by
strings attached to its jointed limbs
melancholy deep sadness or depression
metaphysics the philosophical study of being and knowing
parson a member of the clergy
petulance the quality of being ill-tempered
plaintive mournful
ponderous heavy or important
prostrate to reduce to extreme weakness; to be overcome
roust to wake up someone or disturb
rueful expressing sorrow or regret
searing burning or scorching
self-deprecation the act of putting oneself down
staunchly in a firm way
tangent a sudden change of course
teeming overflowing
threadbare shabby
verandah a porch or balcony
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Natalie Babbitt on Writing
Natalie once wrote an essay called, “My Love Affair with the
Alphabet.” It is about how miraculous the alphabet is. She
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wonders “how those twenty-six funny shapes can group
themselves in endlessly different ways to make words with
endlessly different meanings.” The essay expresses her opinion
that the letters of the alphabet on the pages of a book enable us
to go to different places, to be someone else entirely, and to
accomplish extraordinary things.
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You Be the Author!
• Write the sequel: Don’t you wish you knew what became of
Jesse Tuck? Write a story about what happened to Jesse after
Mae was freed. How long did he wait for Winnie? Did he fall in
love again? Did he get into any trouble? Where do you think he
traveled?
• Keep a diary: Imagine that you suddenly find out that you
are going to stay the age you are today forever. Start a fictional
diary. Start your diary on the day you become immortal. How did
it happen? At an encounter with a magical being? Or perhaps
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after finding an unusual object? Were you with any of your
friends or family members? What is it like to see your friends get
older? Since you’ll never appear older, will you be in the same
grade forever? Write a few sentences each day about who you
reveal your secret to, what is good about living forever, and what
you don’t enjoy about it, and anything else that you think is
interesting about your new situation.
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Activities
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• Get a library card: If you already have a card, head to the
library and check out some of Natalie Babbitt’s other stories! If
you don’t have a library card, make sure to get one. You will find
endless possibilities for great reading inside the library!
Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
11⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
11⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
11⁄2 cups milk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon of maple or regular syrup
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
1. Melt the butter, either in a small pan on the stove or in a
small bowl in the microwave. Let the melted butter cool for
several minutes.
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4. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture. Whisk together
until there are no big chunks of flour. The batter will be lumpy,
not smooth. Do not mix too much or else the flapjacks won’t be
fluffy.
5. Grease the griddle or pan with oil or butter. You could use
cooking spray if you prefer.
9. Cook for about one minute more and lift up an edge to check
to see if it’s done. The flapjack should be golden brown.
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Related Reading
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Peacock and Other Poems by Valerie Worth (2002)
Small Poems by Valerie Worth (1972)
Small Poems Again by Valerie Worth (1986)
Still More Small Poems by Valerie Worth (1978)
Movies
Tuck Everlasting (2002)
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Bibliography
Books
Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting. New York: Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, 1975.
dePaola, Tomie, and others. Once Upon a Time . . . Celebrating the
Magic of Children’s Books in Honor of the Twentieth Anniversary
of Reading Is Fundamental. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons,
1986.
Silvey, Anita. The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and
Their Creators. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
Web sites
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books:
http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/puboff/bccb/0699true.html
Cedar Falls Public Library Youth Department:
www.cedar-falls.lib.ia.us/youth/author3.html
Disney:
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/tuck
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Educational Paperback Association:
www.edupaperback.org
Kidspace @ The Internet Public Library:
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/askauthor/babbitt.html
Kidsreads.com:
http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-babbitt-natalie.asp
Scholastic:
http://www2.scholastic.com/teachers/authorsandbooks/
authorstudies/authorstudies.jhtml
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